Ghost job

A ghost job, fake job, or phantom job is a job posting for a non-existent or already filled position.

The employer may post fake job opening listings for many reasons:

There is a rising trend in employers promising remote work as "bait," and it underscores the relative power of the employers in the job market.

According to the career coaching service SamNova, a fake job listing can often be spotted as one that is either continuously open or repeatedly posted. These listings may have catchy titles, vague descriptions, a lack of detail, or contain reposts of previous listings.

A survey conducted by Clarify Capital has concluded that many companies and government entities have tricked job seekers with fake ads without the intent of hiring. A 2025 study by recruiting platform Greenhouse Software showed at least one in five job postings in the US is fake or never filled.

Legality

Ghost jobs are generally legal worldwide, though they may violate information privacy laws or consumer protection law in specific contexts in some countries.

Canada

In January 2026 a law in the province of Ontario intended to curb the practice went into effect. Under the law, companies with at least 25 employees must disclose whether a vacancy is actively being filled in a job listing, inform job applicants about the status of their job candidacy within 45 days of a job interview and whether a decision to hire an employee has or has not been made.

United States

In 2026, a number of US states considered legislation against ghost jobs.

New York state passed a bill proposing requiring employers to disclose when they expect an advertised role to be filled and levying fines for violating these rules. This bill was approved by both houses of the state legislature. As of August 2026, it was awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul's review.

New Jersey had a pending bill requiring employers to state whether the position is open and provide a hiring timeline, while allowing some leeway for keeping unavailable position listings open under some circumstances, with clear labeling.

The state of Pennsylvania had a bill introduced by Representative Jim Prokopiak require employers to list accurate hiring intentions and establish timelines to remove posts after positions are filled.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bienasz, Gabrielle (September 20, 2022). "What Are 'Ghost Jobs' and Why Are They Everywhere Now?". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Weber, Lauren; Kwoh, Leslie (January 8, 2013). "Beware the Phantom Job Listing". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 3, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ↑ Thapa, Anuz (August 22, 2024). "Ghost jobs: What the rise in fake job listings says about the current job market". CNBC.
  4. 1 2 Mercurio, Joe (September 1, 2022). "Survey: Job Seekers Beware of Ghost Jobs". Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  5. ↑ Knight, Rebecca; Kaplan, Juliana. "That's not a real job opening: Some companies are posting 'ghost jobs' but don't actually plan to hire you — or anyone". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
  6. ↑ Berwick, Isabel; Smith, Sophia (October 12, 2022). "Beware of 'ghost job' listings". Financial Times. Archived from the original on November 25, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Breakingviews - Fake jobs hide cooler reality for US workforce". Reuters. April 4, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-08-10 – via www.reuters.com.
  8. ↑ Chen, Te-Ping (March 20, 2023). "Job Listings Abound, but Many Are Fake". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023 – via www.wsj.com.
  9. ↑ "Ghost Jobs: A complete guide, including how to sniff them out - Digital Jobs". 2026-08-30. Retrieved 2026-09-07.
  10. ↑ Rogers, Taylor Nicole (June 4, 2022). "Are 'fake' job ads inflating America's employment data?". Financial Times. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  11. ↑ Moore, Cortney (April 25, 2023). "Fake remote, hybrid jobs shared online to trick candidates". Fox Business. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ Kim, Soo (June 21, 2023). "Seven red flags to look out for on a job ad, according to business experts". Newsweek. Archived from the original on August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  13. ↑ Ropek, Lucas (2025-01-14). "1 in 5 Online Job Postings Are Either Fake or Never Filled, Study Finds". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  14. ↑ Cook, Lynn (2025-01-13). "Fake Job Postings Are Becoming a Real Problem". WSJ. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  15. ↑ ""Ghost" Job Postings". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  16. ↑ Bushey, Kayla; Kanthasamy, Saz (2024-12-05). "Ghost jobs: The phantom hiring trend with data privacy implications | IAPP". IAPP.org. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  17. ↑ Liu, Jennifer (2025-08-07). "Lawmakers want to end HR ghosting during the interview process—here's how". CNBC. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  18. 1 2 Weber, Lauren (2026-08-21). "'Ghost Job' Ads Are Getting So Bad That Lawmakers Want to Ban Them". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-08-22.
  19. ↑ Travis, Michelle. "Ghost Job Ads Are Latest Employer Tactic Targeted By State Lawmakers". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-08-22.